Autumn 1 Newsletter
12th September 2025
Welcome back! We are thrilled to see everyone and to kick off what promises to be a fantastic autumn term. It has been a joy welcoming back our children and parents, as well as meeting new families who have joined our community, including Miss Yates in Year 3/4 and Mrs Jones in Year 4/5. We are also delighted to welcome back our kitchen team, Mrs Davock and Mrs Scott; the lovely smells that waft through the school are certainly a treat for us all, and we look forward to enjoying their tasty meals together.The children have settled in remarkably well over the past two weeks. We began with a Federation staff training day, building on our federation vision ‘growing stronger together’. This set the stage for our first, exciting theme of the term centred around wildlife and the jungle.
Our recent Federation visit to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park was a resounding success, with all the children demonstrating fantastic behaviour throughout the day. We were especially lucky with the weather, which made the day even more enjoyable. The following day, M&M Productions visited both schools to perform 'The Jungle Book', further enriching our theme and inspiring our children.
Mrs Batty and I have thoroughly enjoyed visiting the classrooms, where I have seen everyone hard at work, creating incredible pieces and making lovely memories together as a community.
Here’s to an exciting year ahead!
Kind regards
Mrs Rawes and Mrs Batty
Attendance
Our Attendance to date is: 97.3%
Authorised Absence: 1.1%
Uauthorised Absence: 1.5%
Oak Class
What a wonderful start to the Autumn term we have had. Out topic this half term is ‘All About Me’ where the children will be learning about what makes them unique, what is the same and what is different about each and everyone of us.
I have been super impressed with the Year 1 children who have supported our new starters to settle in with new routines and to learn our class rules. We will be writing our own class charter. We have enjoyed a mini topic about the Colour Monster - which has helped us to recognise our feelings. Much Loved Books will be going out this evening, please enjoy reading these to your child.
Thank you for your support.
Mrs Batty & Mrs Bodle
Maple Class
The children in Water Class have really stepped up to the challenge of their new year group's work this fortnight- they should be very proud! This half term, our learning in topic will be around the rainforest. Our Class novel is 'The Jungle Book' by Rudyard Kipling. In science, we have been learning about the digestive system, teeth and foodchains. This was supported by our workshop at YWP. Our learning in maths this half term is focused on place value of 4 digit numbers. We are really excited for the year ahead.
Mrs Blades, Miss Yates and Mrs Firth
Ash Class
It has been wonderful to welcome the children into ourAsh Class family. The last 2 weeks the children have settled in really well. We completed a mini topic about animals in preparation for our trip to YWP. We have gone through our class and school rules and developed a classroom charter. The children are really getting to grips with number in maths and enjoying developing their mapping skills; even creating their own treasure maps!Our focus this half term is all about infomration texts. Our current Class text 'Meerkat Mail' has helped bring together our topic and ill support our work in geography and science. Looking forward to a fantastic term.
Mrs de Bethel and Mrs Poskitt
Willow Class
It has been a whirlwind 2 weeks back into the new term - Willow Class has a great start to the week with our trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Tuesday. We focused on how the animal’s enclosures were enriched. We spotted climbing areas, basking platforms, caves and even waterfalls. We all found it quite comically when a lemur took a whole head of lettuce for him to snack upon alone! After a busy start to the week the children did well getting stuck back into their work – in particular they have enjoyed working on their Art in preparation for creating animals prints using foam and paint. In addition to this they have also loved taking part in E.R.I.C (Everyone Reading in Class), relaxing in class, taking of their shoes, getting comfy and enjoying a book!
This week the children have surpassed their first-class target of 500 Dojo points, earning themselves an extra playtime next week. Well done Willow Class!
Mrs Jones and Mrs Burton
Student Council
Over the next couple of weeks we will be holding elections for children to serve on the Student Council. More information will follow shortly.
Sports
Following on from our successful year of sports where we achieved the GOLD School Games Mark, we are looking forward to a number of fixtures this term. First up will be football.
After School Clubs are now up and running. Forest School and Football Training are now full. There are limited spaces for Jak's Friday sports club. Please contact the office if your child would like to attend.
Birch Class
The Year 6 children have been AMAZING buddies for our new starters. They have helped them to be organised and supported them at playtimes.
On Tuesday, children in Birch Class extended their knowledge of conservation during an interactive workshop which enabled them to investigate items which had been confiscated at airports linked to poaching and the fur trade, liking closely to the poetry we have been studying. They were shocked by what they learned!
The children also sought evidence throughout the park of enrichment activities for the different species and considered how wildlife parks attempt to recreate the habitats and natural environments of the organisms.
Mrs Habbishaw and Mrs Firth
Upcoming Events
Autumn Term
18/9 - Flu vaccinations
18/9 - DC Sarah Gladstone - E-Safety for Y4-6
22/9 - 3:30 Phonics Meeting
26/9 - European Day of Languages
6/10 - 2:30pm Harvest Service - all welcome in Church
14/10 - 2:10pm Birch Class Stay and Read followed by Class Worship in school
20/10 - Individual Photos
24/10 - Training Day - school closed
3/11 - Parents Evening
4/11 - Parents Evening
10/11 - Remembrance Service
2/12 - 2:10pm Willow Class Stay and Read followed by Class Worship in school
5/12 - 6pm Christmas tree switch on in the village
10/12 - 1.30pm Oak / Ash Christmas Performance in Church
11/12 - 2:30pm Christingle Service - all welcome in Church
12/12 - Pantomime Trip (Oh, yes it is!)
16/12 - Maple / Willow / Birch Christmas Performance in Church
18/12 - Christmas Dinner
Reminders
School Uniform
The children look so smart in their uniforms; thank you to everyone for your continued support in upholding our high uniform expectations. For more information regarding our uniform policy, please refer to our school website:
Pollington-Balne Church of England Primary School - Uniform Information
Data Check
With the new school year, please can we ask you all to update the information we have recorded for you and your child/children so that we can update the information we hold on Arbor (our MIS system).
Personal information - including child's middle name, ethnicity, religion, first language, nationality.
Background - Free School Meals, Looked After (In Care) Service Child
Medical & Dietary information (very important for their first day in school)
Special Educational Needs
Consents - Digital photographs, Photographs displayed in school, Photo on the school website, Photographs in the Local Press, School Visits,
Priority Emergency Contacts (Parents)
Emergency Contacts (we request more than 2 if possible)
If you have any queries please contact Ms Bainbridge or Ms Warren.
Keeping Our Children Safe
Safeguarding – Minecraft Game
We have been made aware of a safeguarding risk linked with the Minecraft game. Some children, across the country, have been exposed to a sexually explicit, unofficial modification (or “mod”) on Minecraft called Jenny. This mod introduces adult-themed content into the game.
The “Jenny Mod” is not part of Minecraft’s official content but can be installed separately. Once installed, Jenny then becomes a character in the game that the player can interact with. The character is designed to “date” the player and demonstrates adult behaviours including simulated sex acts and engaging in graphic, animated interactions that mimic adult content. This content is unregulated, unmoderated, and can be deeply harmful to children’s emotional and psychological development.
This mod has been promoted on YouTube, Reddit, and other mod-sharing platforms, making it easy for children to stumble upon links - often disguised as harmless “fun” mods.
We know that many children access minecraft and know that you will want to be extra vigilant to this. You can help to safeguard your child by:
- being aware of what your child is playing, ask questions and take an interest in what they are watching or building.
- setting up parental controls – most devices and gaming platforms allow you to restrict mod downloads and prevent online interactions.
- use child specific versions such as the Minecraft education edition.
- report harmful and inappropriate content.
Please click on the link below to take you to our E-Safety Page on our website:
Pollington-Balne Church of England Primary School - E Safety